Edinburgh

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Get Schooled in Scottish Slang

First time in Scotland? Don’t be a daftie, a creeping Jesus or a bam or you might take a dunt to the head. Say what? Scotland has a rich linguistic history with three languages, an arsenal of vibrant slang and good olde Rabbie Burns. Brush up on your Scottish slang before your trip, so you’re not caught wondering whether you were just insulted or complimented.

‘Ba’-heid’ (Baw-heed ) – Ball head. Someone who has a big head. Does ‘Bawbag’ sound familiar? It is the name of the famous Scottish hurricane.‘Bairn’ (Bae-r-n) – Child, bairn or wean (wee yin) mean the same thing.‘Bam’ (Bam) – Someone who is acting up, uneducated or being silly. Can be a term of endearment, but mostly a derogatory term. Bampot is the more extreme version.‘Barry’ (Barry) – Great, fantastic, amazing.‘Belter(s)’ (Bel-ter) – Can mean great, amazing, brilliant or disgusting, smelly, horrible.‘Blether’ (Ble-ther) – Gossip, talk, share. Can mean to catch up with friends, also a derogatory term that means you have a big mouth and can’t keep a secret.‘Blootered’ (Blue-Turd) – Drunk.‘Bog’ (Bog) – Toilet, rest, roll. If something is unpleasant or smells you could say it was ‘Boggin’ ‘Bowfin’ or ‘Mockit’.‘Buckie’ (Buckie) – Buckfast. Tonic. Caffeinated wine drunk by those hoping to get drunk easily.

C

‘Cannae / Canny’ (Can-nae) – Can’t.‘Chav’ (Chav) – Anti-social youths. Ned. Gadgie or Schemie can also be used.‘Chore’ (Chore) – Steal. Chore or five-fingered discount will both be used to mean stealing.‘Clipe’ (C-lipe) – Someone who tells tales or a snitch. Being a clipe or a grass is the same thing.‘Collie-buckie’ (Collie-Buckie) – A piggy bag.‘Coupon’ (Coupon) – Face.‘Coo’ (Coo) – Cow. A farm animal. To call a woman a coo/cow is the height of rudeness.‘Crabbit‘ (Crab-Bit) – Grumpy, Angry.‘Creeping Jesus’ – Someone who is odd.‘Cry’ – Name or called.

D

‘Dae’ (Day) – Do.‘Daftie’ (Daft-y) –An idiot, a harmless idiot. Can also use Nugget or Numptie.‘Dancer’ (Dancer) – Someone who moves their body to music, but the term ‘ya dancer’ means something brilliant, exciting.‘Dingy’ – Ignored.‘Dook’ – To dip. Either to dip your biscuit in your mug of tea or to bob for apples at Halloween. The comment dooking fur chips means a person’s face looks like it was dunked in a deep fat fryer of burning oil.‘Dreich’ (Dre-ck) – Foggy, cloudy, overcast.‘Druthy’ (Droothy) – Thirsty.‘Dunt’ – Hit, blow, force inflected.

‘Hame’ – Home.‘Haud yer wheesht’ (Hud Yer Whee-shee-D) – Hold Your Noise. Be quiet, shut up.‘Haver’ – To talk, converse for a long time about a lot of things.‘Hee Haw’ – Nothing.‘Heid’ (Heed) – Head. Napper will also be use instead of heid.‘Hen’ – Reference a nice/kind lady.‘Hing’ – Hang.‘Hooter’ – Nose.‘Hoy’ – To throw.‘Hunners’ – An amount usually more than a dozen. Loads of them.

I

‘Irn Bru’ (Iron Brew) – An orange carbonated drink with a magical, secret recipe which will cure any hangover. Basically, it saves lives.

J

‘Jacksey’ – Rear end.‘Jam Piece’ – Jam/Jelly Sandwich.‘Jammy’ – Lucky.‘Jammies’ – Nightwear.‘Jessy, Jessie’ – A wimp.‘Jobby’ – The ‘No2’ bathroom activity. Also as an insult if someone is ‘being a jobby’ it means they are misbehaving.

K

‘Keek’ – A little look. Rubbish, unfair. Eg. A wee keek at the picture on Facebook. Or, I wish you were coming, it will be keek without you.‘Ken’ – Know.

‘Pan’ – To break.‘Pee-the-Bed’ – Dandelion.‘Peely-Wally’ – Looking pale, usually unwell but can also mean skin has not seen sunshine.‘Pelter’ – To give an abusive remark.‘Poke’ – A cone made from paper that holds chips/fries.‘Pit’– Bed. Scratcher can also mean bed.‘Plook’– A spot/zit.‘Polis’ – Police.‘Puggy’ – A fruit/gambling machine usually found in bars.‘Pus’ – Face.

Amanda is our resident word nerd. Based in Seattle, she crafts copy, polishes content and maintains social media. She is also a travel and fiction writer, animal enthusiast, Murakami devotee and avid volunteer.

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